Ball to Step Down as Vice President for Research

University of Maryland, College Park President Darryll J. Pines and University of Maryland, Baltimore President Bruce E. Jarrell sent the following email to campus leaders on Tuesday.

We write to inform you of a transition occurring later this year in the Division of Research at both the University of Maryland, College Park and University of Maryland, Baltimore. After three and a half years of laudable service, Vice President Gregory Ball will step down this summer from the role of vice president. He will return to the faculty in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, where he previously served as dean for eight years.

Under Dr. Ball's leadership, our joint research enterprise achieved several historic milestones. As the leader of the joint research enterprise, Vice President Ball enhanced collaboration between the two institutions, leading to recognition as one of the top 20 U.S. institutions in the National Science Foundation's latest Higher Education Research and Development survey, the most widely recognized national ranking for universities engaged in sponsored research.

In College Park, in fiscal year 2023, the university brought in a total of $834 million in awards for research and other sponsored activities, the highest total ever recorded at UMD. UMD also achieved our highest-ever ranking as a top five school for entrepreneurship. The university also secured its largest research contract in our history to support the Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security.

In Baltimore, research expenditures grew nearly 10% during Dr. Ball's leadership, and, in FY 2024, research awards reached $638 million while each core faculty member generated $1.45 million, on average, in research funding. UMB continued to pursue its longstanding commitment to collaboration and partnership with the global life sciences industry, conducting over $75 million in corporate-sponsored research in FY 2024 and working with more than 300 bioscience and pharmaceutical firms.

During his tenure, Dr. Ball was integral in the launch and expansion of several transformational initiatives, including the $30 million Grand Challenges Grants program at UMD, University of Maryland Institute for Health Computing, Quantum Startup Foundry and $15 million NSF Mid-Atlantic Innovation Hub. He also provided strong leadership to drive the expansion of major public and private research partnerships, including with IonQ, Lockheed Martin, NOAA, NASA, ARL and NIST.

We want to thank Greg Ball, who has been both a trusted colleague and a friend for many years, and we want to congratulate everyone who has contributed to our significant growth in the research enterprise in recent years.

A search internal to the University System of Maryland employees will begin soon, with the goal of a smooth transition this summer. We will collaborate across the two institutions as we choose a successor. We aim to name a new joint vice president before Dr. Ball resumes his academic pursuits on June 30, 2025.

Please join us in wishing Greg well, as we are all grateful that his skills and infectiously curious intellect remain assets to us both.

Sincerely,

Darryll J. Pines
President, University of Maryland, College Park

Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS
President, University of Maryland, Baltimore